


Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family, Ficlet, Forgiveness, Gen, Guilt, Missing Scene, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 17:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15515142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: It is only after Miguel bursts into a bloom of fiery petals and is gone—off again to the Land of the Living where he belongs—that she dare bring herself to look down at him, laying at her knees and too weak to move, what movement there is left in him the involuntary bright orange trembling.“I shouldn’t have said that,” he croaks. “Told Miguel that he hadourblessing. You always hated when I spoke for you.”“I…It’s alright. He has my blessing too.” Her voice is only barely louder than his. “Héctor, I—”“Don’t you dare apologize to me, Imelda.”Imelda and Héctor, near sunrise.





	Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten

It is only after Miguel bursts into a bloom of fiery petals and is gone—off again to the Land of the Living where he belongs—that she dare bring herself to look down at him, laying at her knees and too weak to move, what movement there is left in him the involuntary bright orange trembling. 

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he croaks. “Told Miguel that he had _our_ blessing. You always hated when I spoke for you.”

“I…It’s alright. He has my blessing too.” Her voice is only barely louder than his. “Héctor, I—”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me, Imelda.”

“I wanted her to forget you.”

“I know.”

“And now—”

He feebly squeezes his boney fingers around hers in lieu of an interruption, of a request, and his implied meaning is clear. That he has more to say, but that he has limited time, and does not possess the strength to speak over her. She quiets herself accordingly.

“This is my fault. Only mine. I left. Even if I tried to come home. To Coco. To you. I left. And I’m sorry.”

Imelda opens her mouth then closes it. Her fury at him—which had first sprouted through her heart as pain and resentment when he left, and which had grown and solidified in the many years of her life and afterlife since—seems so petty now, with him laying here, on the ground, fading into nothing...

“I know you said you can’t forgive me,” Héctor continues softly, and apparently with a great deal of effort, snapping her out of her thoughts. “And I don’t expect you to. But I want you to know. I’m sorry.”

“I _do_ forgive you,” she whispers, moving her hand to his cheekbone, aware only as she says it that it’s the truth.

“Thank you, Imelda.” He closes his eyes, the ghost of a smile on his bony mouth, and it is increasingly clear that these moments are his last.

“What do you want me to do?” Imelda wills her voice to be steady and calming.

“When Coco gets here. Tell her I loved her. Even though she won’t remember me. Tell her.”

“I will.”

“And…tell me about our family.”

Imelda blinks, first at his use of the word _our_ —the family may bear his surname, but it’s _her_ labor that built it _in spite_ of him—and then at the sudden realization that Héctor has never seen the family. Any of them. That until meeting Miguel tonight, he wouldn’t have even known any of their names. It should have been obvious; no picture on the ofrenda means that he was never able to visit the living on Dia de Murtos, and she’d never let him get close to those of them already in the Land of the Dead. But she has never allowed herself to think of the natural consequences of those truths until this moment.

“Alright.” She inhales, trying to move past the tragedy and the shame that has settled in her ribs, and does as he asked.

She tells him about Julio, gesturing to where he stands several meters away, and how Coco’s eyes had looked the day she married him. How endearingly afraid he had been of her, his mother-and-law, in life, how he skirts around her even now, in his death, as if he’s afraid she’ll eat him without Coco to stop her.

She tells him about the two daughters Julio had with Coco, Victoria—whose skeleton she also gestures to—and Elena, who is still in the Land of the Living. How they had both worked hard to imitate her while she had been alive, and how they had grown closer after her death. How beautifully they could each cross-stitch sandals. How crushed Elena had been by Victoria’s premature death, how fearlessly she has led the family since, and how devotedly she cares for Coco.

She tells him about Elena’s three children: Berto, Enrique, and Gloria. How the three of them support each other, how Berto snorts when he laughs, and how Gloria smirks when anyone dare suggest she get married, and about Enrique’s soft-spoken voice that drips with quiet compassion.

She tells him about Berto’s children. About Abel—strong and large but such a gentle soul. About Rosa and her brain that shines like gold. About the twins, Benny and Manny, about the mischievous glint in Benny’s eye and about Manny’s belly laughs.

And when she reaches Enrique’s child, she says only: “Well, you’ve met Miguel.”

“I’ve met Miguel,” Héctor confirms, voice wistful.

Voice wistful, but not as weak as it had been moments ago, before the both of them got lost in images of their family, so much so that it’s a distinction that even he doesn’t seem to notice. Imelda’s eye sockets snap to Héctor’s skeleton, still lying next to her, and sure enough his bones are solid and steady, off-white with no flashes of orange. 

“I think he saved you,” Imelda says softly.

“What?”

“Miguel saved you. You’ve stopped fading. He must have reminded Coco of you. She remembers.”

“I…” Héctor sits up slowly, and surveys himself, moving his humerus and then his waistbone, and when he’s certain he is indeed still present, looks at her. “Does that…does that make you happy?”

“Of course it does, you _bobo_.” Imelda smiles, tears pricking at her eye-sockets. “You’re part of this family, after all.”

Héctor smiles too.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


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